The present invention relates to the field of voice mail messaging systems. Voice mail messaging systems provide telephone users with great convenience. Through the use of such systems, telephone users are able to leave messages for subscribers of the voice mail messaging systems, and the subscribers are able to retrieve their messages remotely. A subscriber of a voice mail messaging system usually connects to the voice mail messaging system through a network. Typically, the network is the public switched phone network, and the voice mail messaging system includes at least one voice mail server. Once the subscriber connects to the voice mail messaging system, she can retrieve any voice messages that have been left for her on the voice mail messaging system.
Often, a subscriber will have a need for taking notes while listening to her messages. Such notes may include a telephone number, address or name present in a retrieved message, or can more broadly contain any information, including information that the subscriber wishes to remember later in connection with a retrieved message. A subscriber in the process of retrieving messages, however, frequently cannot conveniently take notes by typing or writing. For example, the subscriber may be driving, in which case the subscriber's hands and eyes are unavailable for taking notes, or the subscriber may be walking, in which case no stable or convenient writing platform is available. Furthermore, the subscriber may be physically-impaired such that taking notes by typing or writing is inconvenient or even impossible.
Additionally, a subscriber taking a note by hand or by other traditional means while listening to her messages will not at a later time be able to easily retrieve the note given the corresponding message or vice versa. In such a situation, it is convenient to have a note retrievably associated with the voice message to which it corresponds, such that retrieval of the note allows easy or automatic retrieval of the voice message, and vice versa.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,216 (“'216 patent”) describes a communication system for distributing audio recordings among a plurality of subscribers in which each subscriber is provided with a player/recorder unit. A subscriber, while listening to a distributed program, may utilize the recorder to comment upon the program. The communication system, for example, allows the subscriber to review and respond to voice messages by recording corresponding audio notes while commuting or traveling to more productively utilize travel time. Such audio notes may be stored in separate files that are uploaded to a host and keyed to the voice messages they annotate.
However, the communication system disclosed in the '216 patent, because it requires a player/recorder unit on the subscriber's end, does not allow for the provision of services directly from the host to the subscriber. A player/recorder unit as disclosed in the '216 patent first downloads a voice message from the host. The subscriber, while playing back the downloaded voice message may record an audio note. Finally, the audio note is uploaded to the host for storage and keyed to the voice messages it annotates.
A voice mail service provider is disadvantaged in many respects in implementing a communication system as disclosed in the '216 patent. First, the service provider must distribute a player/recorder unit to each new subscriber. Second, the service provider or a second service provider must provide maintenance services for the player/recorder units. Third, any upgrade of software of the communication system that is resident on the player/recorder units will require a recall of the player/recorder units. Additionally, unauthorized copying of such software may occur, because the software is resident on player/recorder units which are not in the possession of the service provider. Fourth, billing for provided services, and in particular for voice mail annotation services, is dependent on an upload of a usage log tracking the subscriber's utilization of services from the subscriber's player/recorder unit to the host. Problems in uploading or malfunction of the player/recorder unit may lead to delayed or inaccurate billing, or theft of service by a subscriber.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide for a method and apparatus for taking notes corresponding to voice messages stored on a voice mail messaging system that can be implemented directly from the messaging platform or the host without the use of a special device on the subscriber's side.